Slain Gujarat—based RTI activist Amit Jethwa has been chosen for a gallantry award instituted by a voluntary organisation working in the field of transparency.
The organisation, National RTI Forum, has instituted several gallantry awards for RTI activists who have dared the adversities to get information from government on the issues concerning larger public interest and exposing corruption in the process.
Jethwa will be given the ‘Satish Shetty Award for Gallantry’ posthumously.
The ‘Lalit Mehta Award for Gallantry’ is being given to Biswajit Mohanty who is also a wildlife activist based in Orissa. Mohanty has used the transparency law in his area of work to bring to light corruption in forest department. Through his RTI application he brought out misuse of forest vehicle case, transfer of forest rangers case, liquor shop case, Posco case and Vedanta case.
Sanjiv Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Service Officer of 2002 batch, has been chosen for ‘Shashidhar Mishra Award for Gallantry’ Posted as DFO Hissar, Chaturvedi exposed the alleged malafide of state government in cases related to Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary, Fatehabad Herbal Park among others.
The awards themselves are being named after several prominent RTI activists from across the country who were murdered because of their activism.
Satish Shetty was from Pune while Shashidhar Mishra, locally known as ‘Khabri Lal’ was from Begusarai in Bihar.
Lalit Kumar Mehta was based in Jharkhand.
“The National RTI Forum has started these Gallantry awards in remembrance of all such RTI martyrs and shall be presenting these awards to such RTI activists who are showing a new path to the society through their sincere and brave use of RTI,” said Amitabh Thakur, an IPS officer who is the brain behind the Forum.
